Bank protecting device



P 1936. c. J. MEUNIER ET AL BANK PROTECTING DEVICE Original Filed Sept.4, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 3mm; OJ MEL/AMER 50M5or W WH w MG mm P 1936- c.J. MEUNIER ET AL BANK PROTECTING DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 4, 1934 3Sheets-Sheet 2 llll III NWN Q K A P 1936- c. J. MEUNIER ET AL 2,053,624

BANK PROTECTING DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 4, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 QNNNNN NWN WWW: QNN W Cf JMEUN/ER H 50Ma0r Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE v 2,053,624 BANK rno'rrc'rmc navrcn ChristianJoseph Meunier and Harold Bomboy, New Orleans, La.

Original application September 4,1934, Serial No. 742,700. Divided andthis application January 31, 1935, Serial No. 4,396 i is Claims. (01.2.0-1.01)

Our invention has for an object to protect from robbery banks and otherplaces where money is kept.

Primarily the present invention has for its object to protect safes andvaults from robbers and holdup men, and it is especially designed forcooperative use with the equipment for protecting cashiers cages ormoney counters that constitutes the subject matter of our applicationSer. No. 742,700, filed September 4, 1934, of which the presentapplication is a division,

Another object is to provide means whereby the safe or vault door may beclosed manually without interfering with the normal alert setting of theelectrical equipment.

Further, it is an object to provide an auxiliary door for the banksafes, which door may be automatically closed and looked upon theapproach of a bandit without necessitating the closure of the outerdoors of the safes, which outer doors bear the time locks.

Further, it is an object to provide an auxiliary door for the vault orsafe which is composed of armor plates held rigidly as a unit but spacedapart, the plates being perforated at intervals, the perforations of oneplate being located out of register with those of the opposite plate inorder to prevent passage of bullets through the perforations and yetpermit air to pass through, so if someone becomes imprisoned in thevault when the door is automatically closed he will not becomesuffocated.

I A further object is to provide an alarm bell in the safe or vault,with means to set the bell into operation immediately the operatingcircuit is closed, to begin the closing of the door, in order that thosein the vicinity may be warned.

A further object is to provide a bank protecting system in which, afterthe operating circuit has once been closed and the doors locked, theymay not be restored to their normal position save by the use of a key orkeys in the hands of someone located at a place sufficiently remote asnot to be under the control or influence of the bandits. Such a person,for instance, may be the chief of police who retains the keys at somesecret location.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outhereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention stillfurther resides in the novel details of construction, combination andarrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in thefollowing detailed description, and then be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuits employed.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a vault or safe equipped with oursafety door.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail horizontal section on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of the latch -releasing mechanismfor the latches H5.

Figure 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6-6 of Figure 7.

Figure '7 is a vertical section on the line 1-1 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a detail horizontal section approximately on the line 8-8 ofFigure 7.

Figure 9 is a detail vertical section later referred to.

Referring now to Figure 1, especially, it will be seen that we provide amain relay having a magnet 56 connected in the actuating circuit 63which contains the source of electrical energy (preferably a storagebattery) 62 and which contains the circuit closers 64. The circuitclosers 64 are distributed at different points in and about the bank orother building which is to be protected in order that they may beoperated by any of a number of persons at different places. The circuitclosers 64 may be of any type, some push buttons, some switches andothers may be actuated by sound waves.

Thus it will be seen that when a circuit closer 64 is operated themagnet 56 of relay 55 will be energized to draw its armature 51 downinto engagement with a fixed contact 6|. This permits the latch 58 to bedrawn over by the spring to hold the armature 51 down mechanically. Astop 59 limits the upward movement of the armature 51.

is the operating circuit. This circuit includes the battery 62, magnet56, armature 51, fixed contact GI and the magnet 61 of a second relay6B. The circuit 65 is provided with master fuses H in box 14 for openingthe circuit in event of a dangerous overload on the .wires.

The relay 66 is provided for the purp se of closing a power circuitIO-II which contains one or more sirens 12 and gongs I3 which may belocated on the outside of the building being .protected and/or at theoflice of the chief of police of the city or the office of the captainof the precinct in which the protected building is located. The signals12 and 13 are preferably operated from the outside power lines 10 whichsupply the electricity for lighting and other purposes. So far asdescribed, it will be seen that .when a circuit closer 94 is operatedrelay ii closes and locks, and at the same time relay 88 becomesenergized to close the circuit 10-1I and operate the distant signals.

By reierring now more particularly to Figure 2 and Figure 3, theconstruction of the auxiliary door for the vault or safe will be clearlyunderstood. The wall of the safe is built to enclose an operating motor18 which is geared down through a reducing gear train I0iI08-- I01I08 toengage the teeth I28 of the rack bar I28, the rack bar being secured tothe sliding door IIO.

In Figures 2 and 3 the number I00 designates the vault (which may be ofthe ordinary construction and, per se, constitutes no part of ourinvention) and i 01 indicates the vault door frame to which the usualdoors IOI (which carry the time locks, etc.) are hinged. The frame I03is recessed at I02-I02 for the reception of the sub-frame or casing H8in which the door IIO operates. The casing I I3 includes groovedtrackways I04 in winch the door slides. The sliding door H0 ispreferably formed with a chamber or space III. The side plates of thedoor are provided with air holes II 2, those of one side plate being outof register with those of the other so that the bandit may not by firingthrough the holes in the outer face of the door cause the bullets topass through holes in the inner face of the door.

The sub-frame II 3 is provided with fixed rods II4. These rods II4 serveas a holding means for cooperating with the pivoted latches II 5. Theselatches are pivoted on fixed pivots H6, and normally rest against stopsII1, they being held against the stops by suitable means, as for examplevolute springs III (see Figure 5). The pivoted latches II! have beveledends I20 and latch rod receiving recesses II8, the latter lying over thelatch rods II 4 when the door is closed.

Suitable means are provided for operating the latches Hi to unlatch thedoor when desired. We prefer to arrange the latches H5 in two groups, anupper and a lower group. when this is the case the means for releasingthe latches may consist of connecting rods I2I and I22 for therespective groups, the connecting rods at their adjacent ends beingprovided with wedges I28 operating in guides I24. The wedges I23cooperate with an operating wedge I25 on a bar I28 mounted to slidewithin the chamber of the door in suitable guides I21. The door isrecessed at I29 and in this recess is mounted the latch releasing ordisengaging wheel I30 and the lock- I32 which cooperates therewith. Thelock is of a construction requiring the ure of two keys (as in safetydeposit boxes) to operate, whereby when the keys Iii-433a are in-'serted and turned the wheel I30 will be connected with the shaft of apinion IiI so that by turning the wheel I80 the pinion I3! is turned tomove the wedge operating bar I28 in a direction to force the wedges I23apart and thereby rock the latches I Ii so as to disengage the rods II4,it being understood that the bar I29 has rack teeth I81 for meshing withthe pinion I3l.

In addition to the latches Hi we provide another set of latches Iliawhich are moved to the latching position by gravity. These latches Iliaare normally held in an inoperative position by means of hold-up dogsI48 that constitute portions of the armatures of magnets I48 (one magnetfor each latch I Iia) and the latches I Iia are lifted to the positionswhere they will disengage the rcds H4 and be held up by the dogs I49, bymeans of a latch lifting rack bar I having lugs I42 to engage under thelatches Ilia when the bar I4I is raised. The bar is moved up and down bya pinion I44 on a shaft I45 that can be operated only when the handwheel 854 is connected to the shaft 5 by the lock mechanism I46 when keyI41 is used. A stop I43 limits the raising of the latches Ilia beyond apredetermined distance.

The dog E49 is projected, when its magnet I48 is de-energized, by asuitable spring I 59.

The positive and negative terminals of the magnets $48 are connectedtogether with the .positive and negative contact strips I82 which arelocated on, but insulated at I5! from, the top of the door. Rollercontact members 653 are mounted in insulated fashion in the frame 504,and are connected to the circuit wires 92 so that when the circuit 82 isclosed the magnets I48 will be energized to withdraw the dogs I49frombeneath the latches II in. and permit them to drop to a latchingposition.

Returning now to a further examination of the diagram, Figure 1, it willbe noted that the safe door operating motor 19 is preferably actuated byan auxiliary battery 80 through the medium of a relay 8I one winding ofthe magnet 82 of which is connected in the circuit 65. The relay 8I hasits armature 83 connected through a second winding of the magnet 82 tobattery 80.

94 designates the fixed contact of the relay 9| which is connected byone of the wires 82 of the sub-circuit to a pole changing switchcontrolled by a suitable lock 88.

85 and 86 designate circuit opening switches which normally hold thecircuit closed, but which are actuated by the door for opening thecircuit. For instance, when the sliding door is in the closed or lockedposition it will have engaged the button of the switch 85, pushed it inand opened the circuit at that place, whereas as the sliding doorreaches the fully opened position the rack bar I29 will push the buttonof switch 88 in and open the circuit at that point.

81 designates generally the lock controlled reversing or pole changingswitch, which includes a shaft 89 that carries the pole changers 90, thelatter cooperating with the contact groups 93-96 and 94-95. The wire 92from the contact 84 runs to the left hand contact 95 and. the right handcontact 95 of the switch 81, while the other wire 92 from battery 80runs to the right hand contact 95 and the left hand contact 99 of theswitch 81. One of the wires SI from the motor 19 is connected directlyto the right hand contact 93 and indirectly through switch 85 to theleft hand contact 93 of the reversing switch 81; the other wire 9I frommotor 19 connects directly to the left hand contact 84 of the switch 01and indirectly through switch 88 to the right hand contact 84, seeFigure 1. When the key 91 is inserted in the lock 88 the shaft 89 may beturned to reverse the connections of switch 81 and thereby effect areversal of themotor I9. Normally when the key 91 is out of the lock 98,the parts are positioned as shown in diagram in Figure 1 so that themotor 19 is ready at all times to move the open door IIO to the closedposition.

The latches Ilia are normally kept in the open or inoperative positionsday and night, even though the vault door is closed each night andaosaeas opened each morning. In this way we intend to have our vaultdoor act as an extra precaution during the night for the bank's funds,or it may be used as a substitute, if desired, for the regular vaultdoor.

After the dogs I49 have been withdrawn, by energization of the magnetsI48, the latches will drop so that the dogs will engage the sides oi thelatches II5a, upon de-energization of the magnets I48, and be inpositions to be projected. under the latches after the latches are againraised through the use of the key I" in look I46, and the turning of thewheel I54.

Only the normal weight of the latches II5a rests upon the dogs, so thatthere will be as little strain as possible upon the magnets, and so thatlittle current will be required to withdraw the dogs.

Operation Assume the parts to be positioned as diagrammaticallyillustrated in Figure 1, and that a bandit, or bandits, have entered thebank for the purpose of robbing it. Anyone seeing or knowing of thepresence of the bandits, and being adjacent a circuit closer M, willclose the circuit 63. Circuit 63 being closed by the circuit closer,current will then flow from battery 62 through circuit 63 to energizemagnet 56 of relay 55. This causes armature 51 of that relay to bepulled down into engagement with contact GI and at the same time permitslatch 58 to latch the armature down so that any opening of the circuitcloser 64 will not affect the following action that takes place. Circuit65 being now closed between 51 and GI, current flows from the battery 62through the wires 65, thereby energizing magnet 61 of relay 66 andclosing the outside signal circuit IO-II by drawing the armature 68 intoengagement with fixed contact 69 to sound the siren I2 and ring the gongI3.

When the circuit 65 is closed by relay the current flows through one ofthe windings of magnet 82 of the relay 8I, thereby closing the circuitbetween contacts 83 and 84 of relay 8|. Current then flows from battery80 through the sub-circuit 92, further energizing magnet 82 to hold thearmature 83 down. (A latch I38 similar to latch 58 of Figure 1 may beused if desired.) I

Current now flows from battery 80 through motor 19 via the pole changingswitch. This starts motor I9 to turning for the purpose of closing thedoor IIO. As soon as the door IIII shall have reached its closedposition the circuit of the motor 19 will be opened by switch 85 asbefore described. Alarms I2 and II are still ringing. The door, havingbeen closed electrically by the actions initiated through the closing ofcircuit closer 64, may now be opened or restored to the normal positionin the following manner: Master key I" is inserted in the lock I andlatches II5a are raised so as to be held up by the dogs I49, after whichthe key is withdrawn.

During this time the circuit of motor I! remains closed at relay BI. Thekeys Isa-ma are inserted into the lock I32 and the latches I I5released. The key 91 is now inserted into the lock 88 and shaft 89 isrocked to change the polarity of the current to the motor 19, therebyreversing it and moving the door back to the open position under thepower of the motor. The door I I0 may be mounted on roller bearings I sothat if desired it may be moved to the open position manually. Soonafter the door begins to open keys ISL-Ina are withdrawn so as to leavethe latches Ill free again to operate. In other words the key '1, whichis used to reverse the motor circuit contacts and thereby reverses themotor, is insertedb'efore keys Iii-Illa are withdrawn and those keysISL-Ina are not withdrawn until the latch bar I20 has been moved back torelease latches II! to their latching positions. Keys I33 and Illa maybe withdrawn as soon as the door has been moved slightly on its openingjourney.

Having opened the door, the latch I in relay CI is moved to releasearmature t3, and the shaft II is turned back to restore the switch I! tothe position shown in Figure 1, after which the key 91 is removed,whereupon the parts will be restored to the normal position, as shown inFigure l, and the cycle of operation will have been completed. j

The fuse boxes 14 and I! are provided for the usual safety purposes, itbeing understood that under normal operating conditions these fuses donot blow, but if for any reason an overload on the lines should occur,one or more of the fuses will blow to protect the circuits. It shouldalso be understood that the circuit closers 64 are normally open andwhen not engaged remain open.

A suitable signal M0 (see Figure 1) may be located in the vault at anyconvenient place to be set into operation when motor I9 is en ergized.thereby warning persons within the vault that the door is being closed.

With this arrangement we can permit banks to have separate employeeshold keys I33 and I3Ia. These two keys will be used every morning atopening time. The man with key I33 will go to the vault and' ifeverything appears to be all right he will give a secret signal to theholder of key I33a. The holder of key I33a. will enter the bank only ifthis signal is given to him, as prearranged. When he receives the slgnalhe enters the bank and joins the first employee in opening the vaultdoor by the use of the two keys, leaving the door in position to respondinstantly to the electric mechanism upon the closing of contact 64.

At closing time the same two men, one to check the other, are to seethat the vault is closed manually. In closing the vault manually thelatches II5 will close upon the fixed rods I in the subframe H3. Thesealone will hold the door closed at night and during'holidays, taking theplace of the regular vault door where desired, or supplementing it.

As before stated, when a holdup takes place the contact switches arethrown and the motor and magnets are operated to close the door andclose all the latches 5a. The latches H5 are released upon opening thedoor by the lock I32, as already arranged for, and the remaining latchesIlia are released upon-the master key I41 from police headquarters beinginserted in the'lock I46.

During the day, if a holdup takes place, the electric mechanism willoperate to close the door and then all latches II5 and 5a will operateto hold the door, and it will require the operation of the two locks 13!and I, incorporated in the door, as well as the third lock 8., to beoperated before the door can. be released. To restore the system tooperative position will therefore require the master key I" from policeheadquarters, or secret place oi! the premises, as well as the threekeys, 01, I33, and lila, carried by the employees of the bank. Duringthe night, if the bank is entered, the bandits will have to blow theregular vault door and the present auxiliary vault door. This will takeentirely too much time and energy and make too much noise to bepractical. I! torches are used to bum the regular safe, the torches willhardly burn through our vault door because the walls are separated. If,however, the doors could be burned through, the time element would makethe job impracticable. Likewise with burning and blowing by the use ofnitroglycerin.

If a holdup occurs during the day, the two trusted employees can evengive the bandits their keys "3a and IN and the bandits will still beunable to open the vault or safe door without the master key i 41 whichis not on the premises.

In the practical use of our invention it is the intention that themaster key or keys be kept outside of the bank at some source where theywill not be under the control or influence oi the bandits, ashereinbeiore mentioned, and furthermore in order to prevent the banditsfrom interfering with the operations of the safety devices all wiring,the fuse boxes and switches contained in the system will be wellprotected by embedding the same in suitable armor or concrete andlocating the fuse boxes and relays in concealed places. Since the onlywires which enter or leave the building are the power wires 10 andsignaling sub-circuit wires I I, it matters little if these wires areout, since that would not interfere with the proper iunctioning oi thevault protecting instrumentalities.

By locating the control switches at various places about the bank atconvenient locations to the employees and oiilcers of the bank, anyoneknowing the presence 01' robbers can throw the switch to set the systeminto operation, thereby shutting oiI access to the money in the vault sothat no matter what else the bandits may do they will not be able to getany money. As the obtaining of money is the thing that bandits hold up abank for, the fact that they are thus prevented from getting the fundswill stop them and other bandits knowing thereof from holding up banksso protected. As the cashier is the one who is usually molested andwhose life is usually in danger, the fact that he cannot open the vaulteven under duress will cause all bandits, when they come to know this,to leave all places protected by our invention entirely alone.

Not only may the circuit closing switches be located within the bankproper, but they may be located in public places where anyone seeing abank being held up may operate the switch to set the safety system intooperation. Therefore ii a bank is held up by a number or bandits and all01' the bank clerks and executives are under duress so that none of themcan operate the secret switches, nevertheless an outsider seeing theholdup can close one of the public switches and eiiect the operation ofthe safety system.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is thought that the complete construction,operation and advantages oi our invention will be clear to those skilledin the art to which it appertains.

What we claim is:

1. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, electro-mechanical means for opening and closing the door, alatch for securing the door in the closed'position, key-controlledmanually operated means to release said latch, a second latch to securethe door in the closed position, electro-mechanical means normally tohold said second latch inactive, and

means actuated upon energization of said first mentionedelectro-mechanical means for releasing said holding means to permit saidsecond latch to operate.

2. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, a motor for operating said door, a motor circuit for effectingthe action of said motor which motor circuit includes a source ofenergy, an actuating circuit including circuit closers at diflerentlocations and including a source 01' energy, an operating circuit, arelay whose magnet is connected in said operating circuit and whosearmature and fixed contact are connected in said motor circuit, meanscooperative with said door for opening the motor circuit when the dooris fully closed, a keycontrolled lock device tor the motor circuit whichdevice when unlocked will cause the motor to move the door to open thevault, a latch Ior securing the door in closed position, key-controlledmanually operated means to release said latch, a second latch to securethe door in closed position, electro-mechanical means normally to holdsaid second latch inactive, and means actuated upon energization of saidmotor for releasing said holding means to permit said second latch tooperate.

3. In a system for the protection oi banks and the like, a vault havinga door, an electric motor, mechanical connections between said motor andsaid door for opening and closing the door, a door-latching devicenormally held inoperative, electro-magnetic means for releasing saidlatching device upon energization of said motor, and a key-controlledinstrumentality for restoring said latching device to normal position.

4. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, an electric motor, mechanical connections between said motor andsaid door for opening and closing the door, a doorlatching devicenormally held inoperative, electro-magnetic means for releasing saidlatching device upon energization of said motor, a keycontrolledinstrumentality for restoring said latching device to normal position,a. second door latching device, means constantly tending to hold saidsecond door latching device in its active position, and a key-controlledmeans for moving said second door latching device to the inoperative ordoor releasing position.

5. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, an actuating circuit, and an operating circuit, a source ofenergy for said actuating circuit and said operating circuit, circuitclosers at different locations included in said actuating circuit, adoor operating motor, a motor circuit including a source of energy, arelay whose magnet is connected in said operating circuit and whosearmature and fixed contact are connected in said motor circuit, meanscooperative with said door for opening the motor circuit when the dooris fully closed, and a key controlled lock device for the motor circuitwhich device when unlocked will cause the motor to move the door to openthe vault.

6. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, an actuating circuit, including circuit closers located atdifferent places, an operating circuit, means to energize said circuits,a relay whose magnet is connected in said actuating circuit and whosearmature and fixed contact is connected in said operating circuit, adoor operating motor, a motor circuit including a source of energy, asecond relay whose magnet is connected in said operating circult andwhose armature and fixed contacts are connected in said motor circuit,means cooperative with said door for opening the motor circuit when thedoor is fully closed, and a key controlled lock device for the motorcircuit which device when unlocked will cause the motor to move the doorto open the vault.

7. In a system for the protection oi banks and the like, a vault havinga door, an actuating circuit, including circuit closers located atdifierent places, an operating circuit, means to energize said circuits,a relay whose magnet is connected in said actuating circuit and whosearmature and fixed contact is connected in said operating circuit, adoor operating motor, a motor circuit including a source of energy, asecond relay whose magnet is connected in said operating circuit andwhose armature and fixed contact are connected in said motor circuit,means cooperative with said door for opening the motor circuit when thedoor is fully closed, a key controlled lock device for the motor circuitwhich device when unlocked will cause the motor to move the door to openthe vault, and other means cooperative with the motor circuit foropening the motor circuit when the door is fully open, said keycontrolled device including a pole changing switch for purposesdescribed.

8. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, a motor for operating said door, a motor circuit for effectingthe action of said motor which motor circuit includes a source ofenergy, an actuating circuit including circuit closers at differentlocations and including a source of energy, an operating circuit, arelay whose magnet is connected in said operating circuit and whosearmature and fixed contact are connected in said motor circuit, meanscooperative with said door for opening the motor circuit when the dooris fully closed, a key controlled lock device for the motor circuitwhich device when unlocked will cause the motor to move the door to openthe vault, a latch to secure the door in closed position,electro-mechanical means normally to hold said latch inactive, and meansactuated upon energization of said motor for releasing said holdingmeans to permit said latch to operate.

9. In vault doors having electrically actuated door opening and closingmechanism, a set of latches, electro-magnetic means normally holdingsaid latches in their unlatched positions, means cooperative with saidelectrically actuated mechanism for effecting said electro-magneticmeans to release the latch'es upon operation of said electricallyactuated mechanism, and key controlled means for effecting saidelectro-magnetic means and said latches to restore them to theirunlatched positions.

10. In a system for the protection of banks and the like, a vault havinga door, an actuating circuit, and an operating circuit, a source ofenergy for said actuating circuit and said operating circuit, circuitclosers at different locations included in said actuating circuit, adoor operating motor, a motor circuit including a source oi energy, arelay whose magnet is connected in said operating circuit and whosearmature and fixed contact are connected in said motor circuit, meanscooperative with said door for opening the motor circuit when the dooris fully closed, a key controlled lock device for the motor circuitwhich device when unlocked will cause the motor to move the door to openthe vault, a power line circuit, alarm signals in a subcircuit connectedto the power line circuit, and a relay whose magnet is connected in theoperative circuit and whose armature and fixed contact are connected insaid sub-circuit whereby upon energization of said operating circuit thealarm signals will be operated.

11. In bank protecting means, a vault having the usual hinged doors, incombination with an auxiliary sliding door, an electric-motor-operateddoor opening and closing mechanism, an electric circuit including themotor of said mechanism and a set of circuit closers distributed aboutthe premises, a set of sliding-door latches positioned automatically tolatch upon closing the door, key actuated means for unlatching saidlatches, another set 01 sliding-door latches, means normally holdingsaid second set of latches in their unlatched positions, and meansgoverned by the motor energizing circuit for releasing said second setof latches to their latching positions when said motor circuit isenergized to close said sliding door.

12. In bank protecting means, a vault having the usual hinged doors, incombination with an auxiliary sliding door, an electric-motor-operateddoor opening and closing mechanism, an electric circuit including themotor of said mechanism and a set of circuit closers distributed aboutthe premises, a set of sliding-door latches positioned automatically tolatch upon closing the door, key actuated means for unlatching saidlatches, another set of sliding-door latches, means normally holdingsaid second set of latches in their unlatched positions, means governedby the motor energizing circuit for releasing said second set of latchesto their latching positions when said motor circuit is energized toclose said sliding door, and key controlled manually actuated means forrestoring said second set of latches to their normal positions.

13. In bank protecting means, a vault having the usual hinged doors, incombination with an auxiliary sliding door, an electric-motor-operateddoor opening and closing mechanism, an electric circuit including themotor of said mechanism and a set of circuit closers distributed aboutthe premises, a set of sliding-door latches positioned automatically tolatch upon closing the door, key actuated means for unlatching saidlatches, another set of sliding-door latches, means nor mally holdingsaid second set of latches in their unlatched positions, means governedby the motor energizing circuit for releasing said second set of latchesto their latching positions when said motor circuit is energized toclose said sliding door, and key controlled manually actuated means forrestoring said second set of latches to their normal positions, saidsliding door comprising a hollow structure having inner and outer wallsprovided with a plurality of perforations those of one wall beingstaggered with respect to those of the other wall.

